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Flow of doctors leaving the country continues unabated

Greece has been unable to halt the exodus of doctors to other countries over the last six years. The Athens Doctors’ Association has issued 1,018 certificates to its members to work abroad since January 1.

Last year it issued 1,521 such certificates, while in 2014 it approved 1,380, and in 2013 1,488. The highest outflow was in 2012, when 1,808 certificates were issued.

In total, the association issued 9,330 certificates to doctors to work abroad from 2010 until last Monday. The majority of certificates issued this year were to doctors who completed their studies in Greece and were unable to get a job in the national health system, totaling 719.

This year, the main destination countries are the UK (487 certificates) – down by 300 from last year – Germany (102), Cyprus (77), France (75), Switzerland (58) and Sweden (44) while 44 certificates were issued for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.